Distributor News

France-based electrical distributor Sonepar has agreed to acquire Netherlands-based wholesaler EMG van de Meerakker. More

Brockton, MA-based NorthEast Electrical Distributors, a subsidiary of Sonepar, has named Frank Marandino as president. More

Graybar, St. Louis, MO, a distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, has agreed to acquire Cape Electrical Supply, Cape Girardeau, MO. More

Paris-based Air Liquide has agreed to sell certain assets in the United States to Matheson Tri-Gas Inc., a subsidiary of Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp. of Tokyo, Japan. These divestitures go toward satisfying the conditions required by the Federal Trade Commission in connection with Air Liquide’s recently closed acquisition of Airgas. More

Genuine Parts Co., Atlanta, GA, has agreed to acquire Canada-based Auto-Camping Ltd. and select jan-san assets of Rochester Midland Corp. More

HVACR/plumbing distributor F.W. Webb Co., Bedford, MA, has acquired Lincoln Supply, Trenton, NJ. More

Bunzl plc, the UK-based international distribution and outsourcing group, has acquired England-based Classic Printed Bag Co. Ltd. and Belgium-based Polaris Chemicals SPRL. More

Dansville Electrical Supply has agreed to be purchased by V.P. Supply Corp., Rochester, NY. More

MSC Industrial Supply Co., Melville, NY, and Davidson, NC, reported sales for the fiscal third quarter ended May 28, 2016, of $727.5 million, down 2.4 percent over the same period a year ago. Profit increased 2.3 percent to $64.8 million. Fiscal year-to-date, sales were $2.1 billion, down 3 percent year-over-year. Profit fell 1.7 percent to $169.4 million. More

Lighting distributor Acuity Brands Inc., Atlanta, GA, reported sales for the fiscal third quarter ended May 31 of $851.5 million, an increase of 24.5 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. Profit increased 14.7 percent to $74 million. For the first nine months, sales were $2.4 billion, an increase of 21.5 percent year-over year. Profit grew 28.3 percent to $207.9 million. More

Paris-based electrical distributor Rexel announced that Rudy Provoost will be stepping down as chairman of the board and CEO on June 30. Patrick Berard has been appointed as Rexel’s new CEO, effective July 1. Rexel will also co-opt Ian Meakins, current CEO of Wolseley plc, as an independent director to replace Provoost. More

Avnet Inc., Phoenix, AZ, has appointed Steve Gomez as senior vice president of sales, Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas, effective immediately. Gomez succeeds Chuck Delph, whose became president of Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas on July 3. More

Industrial gases company Praxair Inc., Danbury, CT, will increase prices for bulk industrial gas and medical gas customers in the United States and its territories, effective July 15. More

The Industrial Supply Association announced that Jeffrey Hughes has resigned as president & CEO. More

Epicor Software Corp. has agreed to be acquired by global investment firm KKR. Epicor is currently owned by Apax Partners. More

Economic News

Led by declines in production-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell to -0.51 in May from +0.05 in April. All four broad categories of indicators that make up the index decreased from April, and all four categories made negative contributions to the index in May. More

The June PMI was 53.2 percent, an increase of 1.9 percentage points from the May reading, according to supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The New Orders Index registered 57 percent, an increase of 1.3 percentage points from the May reading of 55.7 percent. More

New orders for manufactured goods decreased 1 percent to $455.2 billion in May, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This followed a 1.8 percent April increase. Transportation equipment led the decrease, down 5.7 percent to $81.8 billion. New orders for manufactured nondurable goods increased 0.3 percent to $224.9 billion. More

New orders for manufactured durable goods in May decreased 2.2 percent to $230.7 billion, according to the advance report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.3 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.9 percent. More

Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to the “third” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. More

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. decreased 0.2 percent in May to 123.7 (2010 = 100), following a 0.6 percent increase in April, and a 0.1 percent increase in March. The Coincident Economic Index was unchanged, while the Lagging Economic Index increased 0.3 percent. More

May construction spending was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,143.3 billion, 0.8 percent below the revised April estimate of $1,152.4 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce. The May figure is 2.8 percent above the May 2015 estimate of $1,112.2 billion. More

In 2014, operating revenue for Canadian wholesalers was up 5.9 percent and reached the C$1 trillion (US$770.1 billion) mark for the first time. Eight of nine subsectors posted increases. More

Canada’s industrial product price index increased 1.1 percent in May, according to Statistics Canada. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for energy and petroleum products. The Raw Materials Price Index rose 6.7 percent, led by a gain in prices for crude energy products. More

Compared with April, May industrial producer prices rose by 0.6 percent in both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In April 2016, prices fell by 0.3 percent in the euro area and by 0.1 percent in the EU28. Compared with May 2015, industrial producer prices decreased by 3.9 percent in the euro area and by 3.7 percent in the EU28. More

Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International reported a 6.5 percent sales increase for May. The annualized growth through May is 6.6 percent. The annual growth rate has remained between 6 and 7 percent for most of the past two years. More

Manufacturer News

Motion and control technology manufacturer Parker Hannifin Corp., Cleveland, OH, has acquired Jäger Automobil-Technik GmbH and Jäger Automotive Polska Sp. z.o.o. from Arnold Jäger Holding GmbH, Hannover, Germany. More

Swedish manufacturer Atlas Copco has acquired the operating assets of Roxel Rental AS, a supplier of temporary air solutions for the Norwegian offshore industry based in Stavanger, Norway. More

H.B. Fuller Co., St. Paul, MN, reported sales for the second quarter ended May 28 of $532.5 million, down 1.5 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Profit increased 32.4 percent to $33.4 million. For the first six months, sales were $1 billion, down 0.5 percent over the same period a year ago. Profit increased 49.8 percent to $52.2 million. More

Honeywell, Morris Plains, NJ, has agreed to acquire supply chain and warehouse automation provider Intelligrated, Atlanta, GA, for $1.5 billion from a company backed by the Permira funds. More

Honeywell announced that Darius Adamczyk, president & COO, will succeed Dave Cote as CEO next March. More